We survived. What a week! Two Wednesdays ago (the 11th), we had Mari in to the pediatrician for what we thought was an ear infection. And she just seemed generally not well. Ped. said her one ear was maybe slightly pink, but nothing too major. Gave us a prescription to fill if she seemed worse in the next few days. Well, by that Fri. night, she seemed miserable so we filled the prescription.
The next day, Saturday, Robby seemed miserable. He woke up just not himself -- quiet, not very active and kinda stared in to space. I was able to get him a rare appt. w/ the ped. that Sat. afternoon. By the appt. time, he had a 102.9 fever. Ugh. Matt brought him back from the appt. saying the ped. found nothing. Absolutely nothing and we should just keep up with the ibuprofen and Tylenol to help the fever. By that evening, Hannah had a fever and was crying a lot.
Sunday, Robby seemed a little better, Hannah not so much better and Mari was better. Fast forward to Tuesday night (Matt's birthday). By then, Hannah had slept poorly 3 nights in a row. She went to bed badly that night, too. Around 10pm, we hear this very weird, scary noise coming from the nursery. It was Robby and I knew that sound very well. It was the croup cough. Faith had had croup about a year and a half ago.
It was so scary to hear a 10 month old cough like that and struggle to breathe like that. Ugh. I spent some time on the phone with the ped. and we decided to wait it out. Spent the night with Robby sleeping on my chest/shoulder so he could be upright and I could be near him.
Got both babies to the ped. the next day. Robby was treated for croup. Hannah, for an ear infection. Ugh. So until Monday, 75% of our kids are on medication. Well, actually "Robby 'Roids" is off his prednizone now, I guess, so just 50%.
I'm so glad we have a quiet weekend planned!
Steph
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Time power-walks on
Been on the treadmill for 15 straight mornings now. Not gonna say any more about it because that's some pretty dull information to read about.
We are into the grind season at work. Snow days are over, no long weekend days on the horizon - it's almost like having a 'real job' for a while. But not really...
Faith is in her 3rd week of having a chores and behavior chart. It's working well. She's really excited about getting good marks and is doing a better job of helping out around the house. And she's gotten 2 allowances so far, and it excited about that. This system is helping us do a better job of using positive reinforcement with her, and it's also starting her learning about the value of money as well as the idea of saving. It's hard to remember to update the chart every day, but even if we sometimes aren't quite up-to-date, we're always talking about it and she's more aware. And honestly, I think she's probably not behaving a whole lot differently than she was before, but it's helped us all frame her behavior in a more positive light.
Mari doesn't have an allowance yet but we are making her a chart, too. We've kind of dropped the ball on that one, but I wanted to take a week or so to observe what stuff we really want to focus on with her. I think I have a good idea and hopefully I can type it up here in a few minutes. She's doing generally well - she has her tough moments and talks back more than we'd like, but she's starting to realize right away when she does it - you can see her get an immediate worried look on her face, so hopefully that will progress to being able to control her impulses - which will I think always be the challenge with her.
More on the twins next time - no bad news to report anyway.
Thanks for reading,
Matt
We are into the grind season at work. Snow days are over, no long weekend days on the horizon - it's almost like having a 'real job' for a while. But not really...
Faith is in her 3rd week of having a chores and behavior chart. It's working well. She's really excited about getting good marks and is doing a better job of helping out around the house. And she's gotten 2 allowances so far, and it excited about that. This system is helping us do a better job of using positive reinforcement with her, and it's also starting her learning about the value of money as well as the idea of saving. It's hard to remember to update the chart every day, but even if we sometimes aren't quite up-to-date, we're always talking about it and she's more aware. And honestly, I think she's probably not behaving a whole lot differently than she was before, but it's helped us all frame her behavior in a more positive light.
Mari doesn't have an allowance yet but we are making her a chart, too. We've kind of dropped the ball on that one, but I wanted to take a week or so to observe what stuff we really want to focus on with her. I think I have a good idea and hopefully I can type it up here in a few minutes. She's doing generally well - she has her tough moments and talks back more than we'd like, but she's starting to realize right away when she does it - you can see her get an immediate worried look on her face, so hopefully that will progress to being able to control her impulses - which will I think always be the challenge with her.
More on the twins next time - no bad news to report anyway.
Thanks for reading,
Matt
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Jogging on Purpose?
Um, I just jogged on purpose, really for the first time EVER in my life without anyone telling me too. I have memories of being in elementary school and our gym teacher Mr. Baggot (yes, his name got made fun of pretty big time) making us "Run the Mile". I was ALWAYS dead last and ALWAYS walked most of it. I was one of the only kids who didn't get that stupid (and yes I'm reverting back to elementary behavior here) Presidential Fitness award.
Since getting the treadmill on February 18, I have only missed one morning of using it (the night before, Faith had, let's just say, major stomach issues of several types and we had been up quite a bit). Today was the 3rd day in a row that I used one of the 16 pre-installed programs. It's set for 30 mins and I made it 20 mins (the last 10 I kinda set my own, easier incline and speed). But the last 2 of those 20 I had to jog. It was a weird sensation. Hm.
Matt told me yesterday that he's lost about 20 lbs now. Pretty amazing. And I can tell by looking at him now. Pretty cool.
Kids are all doing well. We go Thurs. night for Faith's kindergarten registration. I have very very mixed emotions about this, which I'm sure I'll share more of at a later date. Mari's crazy and fun as ever. She still LOVES preschool and music class. The babies are well, too. They are getting so big -- a few weeks ago at their 9 mo. physical, they were about 21 lbs ea. Hannah's about 4 oz heavier than Robby but is an inch shorter. She's got an adorably fat little belly. Robby is "THIS" close to pulling himself up.
That's all for now. Steph
Since getting the treadmill on February 18, I have only missed one morning of using it (the night before, Faith had, let's just say, major stomach issues of several types and we had been up quite a bit). Today was the 3rd day in a row that I used one of the 16 pre-installed programs. It's set for 30 mins and I made it 20 mins (the last 10 I kinda set my own, easier incline and speed). But the last 2 of those 20 I had to jog. It was a weird sensation. Hm.
Matt told me yesterday that he's lost about 20 lbs now. Pretty amazing. And I can tell by looking at him now. Pretty cool.
Kids are all doing well. We go Thurs. night for Faith's kindergarten registration. I have very very mixed emotions about this, which I'm sure I'll share more of at a later date. Mari's crazy and fun as ever. She still LOVES preschool and music class. The babies are well, too. They are getting so big -- a few weeks ago at their 9 mo. physical, they were about 21 lbs ea. Hannah's about 4 oz heavier than Robby but is an inch shorter. She's got an adorably fat little belly. Robby is "THIS" close to pulling himself up.
That's all for now. Steph
Sunday, February 22, 2009
So Inclined
Quick update - been on the treadmill for 30 minutes for 4 days straight. Hooray for me. Had to go out and buy some new shoes after Steph pointed out that my heel was bleeding after working out. The new scale we bought is working out great as well - much more consistent than the junky old model we had before. Feeling pretty good about the progress we're making.
Keep wishing us good luck and good health!
Matt
Keep wishing us good luck and good health!
Matt
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Do Tread on Me
We bought a treadmill. Used it for the first time today. Made it to 22 minutes on one of the pre-programmed routines. The only time I have to do it without giving up further family time is to get up at 5am. Which honestly isn't that bad, I'm usually up anyway, but there's a big difference between lying in bed awake and speed-walking on a treadmill awake. My energy level the rest of the day will be interesting.
We've been eating better, attempting to lose weight and be more healthy, so this is just the next step. Way back in the day (before kids and between jobs) I worked out every day and was doing like 45 minutes on the elliptical consistently. I also weighed about 55 pounds less than I do now. I've lost about 10 pounds already this time around.
Anyway, I am going to attempt to add a minute a day until I can complete the 30-minute routines. Then we'll hold steady there for a while until it feels normal and then try to up it a little more. The thing about me is, all things being equal I am a fat lazy slob, but once I'm in the middle of this kind of project, I can be a machine. I'm the guy who'll hurt myself doing too much.
So, expect weight and endurance updates on the blog as well.
I also am really hoping to get back to posting videos to YouTube - my problems with the Moody Blues notwithstanding. Luckily, no one else has seen me as a threat and demanded my insidious videos be removed, so I don't anticipate any further problems.
Also added a link to the Towners' blog - check it out!
Matt
We've been eating better, attempting to lose weight and be more healthy, so this is just the next step. Way back in the day (before kids and between jobs) I worked out every day and was doing like 45 minutes on the elliptical consistently. I also weighed about 55 pounds less than I do now. I've lost about 10 pounds already this time around.
Anyway, I am going to attempt to add a minute a day until I can complete the 30-minute routines. Then we'll hold steady there for a while until it feels normal and then try to up it a little more. The thing about me is, all things being equal I am a fat lazy slob, but once I'm in the middle of this kind of project, I can be a machine. I'm the guy who'll hurt myself doing too much.
So, expect weight and endurance updates on the blog as well.
I also am really hoping to get back to posting videos to YouTube - my problems with the Moody Blues notwithstanding. Luckily, no one else has seen me as a threat and demanded my insidious videos be removed, so I don't anticipate any further problems.
Also added a link to the Towners' blog - check it out!
Matt
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Weekly Update
Here I am at conferences again - no weather to report this time.
Normally I'd be hardcore working on vides right now, but I am feeling incredibly lethargic right now and can't seem to motivate myself to do anything. Been a long week. I am hoping that I can drag myself over to the laptop at some point soon to get a LITTLE something done.
Hannah finally got her first tooth. Robby already has 4. Their hair is also starting to really come in well - nothing like Faith and Mari had but enough that it makes them look a little different. Neither shows any sign of crawling or walking. Robby loves to stand - if we can help him practice he'll cruise soon. Hannah may sit for her entire life. She has a remarkable range of motion from the sitting position. She can flatten herself out on the floor to reach something and then prop herself back up. Meanwhile Robby can roll anywhere in a room within a matter of seconds. They've both started Kindermusik classes and are having a great time.
Mari is doing fabulously in preschool. She continues to absolutely adore the twins. She's also gotten a lot better about being calm and not loving them to the point of injury. She's also learned how to backtalk to her parents which is not so good. She still will give us Tookie face from time to time, and still loves to play dressup more than anything in the world.
Faith is also doing great in preschool, and is apparently well out of her shell there. She is reading chapter books at home, and doing so obsessively. She can't go from one room to another without carrying a stack of them around with her. She asks us what unfamiliar words are and remembers them well. While we're a little sad that she'll be going to Kindergarten in the fall, we're happy that she'll be somewhere where she can hopefully be a little more challenged.
All is well in the family. Snow days are behind us, the springtime grind lies ahead. Summer is starting to hover on the edges of our awareness. A return to the Beach after a 3-year absence, another epic RV adventure. Thanks be to God for all he has blessed us with.
Matt
Normally I'd be hardcore working on vides right now, but I am feeling incredibly lethargic right now and can't seem to motivate myself to do anything. Been a long week. I am hoping that I can drag myself over to the laptop at some point soon to get a LITTLE something done.
Hannah finally got her first tooth. Robby already has 4. Their hair is also starting to really come in well - nothing like Faith and Mari had but enough that it makes them look a little different. Neither shows any sign of crawling or walking. Robby loves to stand - if we can help him practice he'll cruise soon. Hannah may sit for her entire life. She has a remarkable range of motion from the sitting position. She can flatten herself out on the floor to reach something and then prop herself back up. Meanwhile Robby can roll anywhere in a room within a matter of seconds. They've both started Kindermusik classes and are having a great time.
Mari is doing fabulously in preschool. She continues to absolutely adore the twins. She's also gotten a lot better about being calm and not loving them to the point of injury. She's also learned how to backtalk to her parents which is not so good. She still will give us Tookie face from time to time, and still loves to play dressup more than anything in the world.
Faith is also doing great in preschool, and is apparently well out of her shell there. She is reading chapter books at home, and doing so obsessively. She can't go from one room to another without carrying a stack of them around with her. She asks us what unfamiliar words are and remembers them well. While we're a little sad that she'll be going to Kindergarten in the fall, we're happy that she'll be somewhere where she can hopefully be a little more challenged.
All is well in the family. Snow days are behind us, the springtime grind lies ahead. Summer is starting to hover on the edges of our awareness. A return to the Beach after a 3-year absence, another epic RV adventure. Thanks be to God for all he has blessed us with.
Matt
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Is this a weather blog now?
Okay, so I am sitting at "conferences" (which as I believe I have posted before consists of me sitting in my room for 3 1/2 hours by myself) and watching the snow come down. Reports of 1-2 inches per hour. And I can't leave for another 90 minutes. Now granted, the snow is supposed to let up by then. It's one of these clipper systems - powerful but small. But my drive home could be a disaster.
I might be here a while.
Anyway, usually during conferences (if my lesson plans are up to date, which they are) I work on videos - you know, those things I used to post to YouTube (I will again sometime). Well, this time I'm working on salvaging all the data I lost when the external hard drive with the video files crashed. Which involves importing the files from the DVD I made of the original mpegs...to make more mpegs. Lots of fun. But, it's working so far which means I won't have lost all the videos. Will be looking into purchasing online storage very soon - I don't trust myself any more - had too many USB device accidents.
Once that's done I will be as up-to-date as I've been on videos in a long time. I will be done through last summer - all I will need to still do is...some random baby and kids at home videos, Halloween of 2008, Mari's 3rd Birthday, Christmas of 2008, Babies first foods, and maybe another odd collection of things here and there. This is pretty amazing considering I've been over a year behind before. And really, I couldn't do it without conference night.
They just got on and told us we can go. I need to pack up the computer. Good luck, me!
I might be here a while.
Anyway, usually during conferences (if my lesson plans are up to date, which they are) I work on videos - you know, those things I used to post to YouTube (I will again sometime). Well, this time I'm working on salvaging all the data I lost when the external hard drive with the video files crashed. Which involves importing the files from the DVD I made of the original mpegs...to make more mpegs. Lots of fun. But, it's working so far which means I won't have lost all the videos. Will be looking into purchasing online storage very soon - I don't trust myself any more - had too many USB device accidents.
Once that's done I will be as up-to-date as I've been on videos in a long time. I will be done through last summer - all I will need to still do is...some random baby and kids at home videos, Halloween of 2008, Mari's 3rd Birthday, Christmas of 2008, Babies first foods, and maybe another odd collection of things here and there. This is pretty amazing considering I've been over a year behind before. And really, I couldn't do it without conference night.
They just got on and told us we can go. I need to pack up the computer. Good luck, me!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Ice Ice Baby
It gets longer and longer between posts, doesn't it?
We are on our 3rd straight day of no school for ANY of us - the monster snow/sleet/ice storm has passed but the city is still basically shut down. I'm a weather buff and this storm was like nothing I've seen or will probably see again. The radar showed a solid line of precip from New Mexico all the way to the Atlantic, and I think that 80% of it psssed right through here. Usually around here if snow is coming, it might be a window of 6-8 hours at most...but this was almost 2 solid days of various forms of cold things falling from the sky. We have some pretty serious fence damage from trees falling in the backyard from the ice. Will have to post some pics of that sometime - not sure how we're going to go about that - the trees fell from other property, so it should be the OTHER guys' repsonsibility...and that will entail some awkward conversations I'm sure. Great.
Girls did some sledding down our driveway - had a good time until Mari slammed into the fencepost and hurt her arm. Oh, and the Directv dish is iced over so we have no signal at all. Meanwhile, we're all getting some cabin fever so we'll probably head over to G&Z a little bit today to have a change of scene.
Oh, and not long after my Columbus post, the hard drive with all our video and picture files crashed. We think we can recover the important data, but discouraging to say the least.
Gotta run. Thanks for stopping by.
Matt
We are on our 3rd straight day of no school for ANY of us - the monster snow/sleet/ice storm has passed but the city is still basically shut down. I'm a weather buff and this storm was like nothing I've seen or will probably see again. The radar showed a solid line of precip from New Mexico all the way to the Atlantic, and I think that 80% of it psssed right through here. Usually around here if snow is coming, it might be a window of 6-8 hours at most...but this was almost 2 solid days of various forms of cold things falling from the sky. We have some pretty serious fence damage from trees falling in the backyard from the ice. Will have to post some pics of that sometime - not sure how we're going to go about that - the trees fell from other property, so it should be the OTHER guys' repsonsibility...and that will entail some awkward conversations I'm sure. Great.
Girls did some sledding down our driveway - had a good time until Mari slammed into the fencepost and hurt her arm. Oh, and the Directv dish is iced over so we have no signal at all. Meanwhile, we're all getting some cabin fever so we'll probably head over to G&Z a little bit today to have a change of scene.
Oh, and not long after my Columbus post, the hard drive with all our video and picture files crashed. We think we can recover the important data, but discouraging to say the least.
Gotta run. Thanks for stopping by.
Matt
Friday, January 16, 2009
Greetings from Columbus
I am out of town! (Which is why I have time to post)
Spending a couple days in Columbus for OMEA (music teacher convention here in Ohio). Could wax philosophical about the oddities of any convention...suffice it to say, I think a fascinating study could be done about behaviors by different professions at conventions...you throw a bunch of people together who 1) all have something in common and 2) care enough about it to spend 2-3 days talking about it, and you have a recipe for weirdness to be sure.
The problem is that it's now about 10 below with a wind chill in the minus-20s. I'm not entirely sure, but this could be the coldest weather I've ever experienced in my entire life. And in a few minutes I have to leave the warmth of the hotel room to get to my car and hope it starts.
I am enjoying the solitude but it will start to get to me soon. See, here's the problem: I officially have NO FRIENDS in the state who share my profession. I am the lonely creepy guy. Brian is here but the band sessions are in a different part of the building. All my friends from college are either out of town, out of the business, or both. Karen my colleague at school...goes to KMEA in Kentucky. So it's just me. Which again, I like...for a while. But by Saturday I'll be very happy to get home with everyone.
In other news, I'm back on the eating right wagon - lost about 10 pounds so far, give or take. I want to try to get it down another 20 or so, and then see what I'm feeling like. We're seriously looking into purchasing a treadmill to give us that extra exercise boost...but that's quite an expensive purchase if you want a good one. We'll see.
Thanks to all the family who are helping Steph out while I'm gone. It's not easy.
More later - the other big news is that the summer trip is officially being put in place...reservations are being made, which means I can start talking about where all we're going. Look for that soon.
Into the cold...
Matt
Spending a couple days in Columbus for OMEA (music teacher convention here in Ohio). Could wax philosophical about the oddities of any convention...suffice it to say, I think a fascinating study could be done about behaviors by different professions at conventions...you throw a bunch of people together who 1) all have something in common and 2) care enough about it to spend 2-3 days talking about it, and you have a recipe for weirdness to be sure.
The problem is that it's now about 10 below with a wind chill in the minus-20s. I'm not entirely sure, but this could be the coldest weather I've ever experienced in my entire life. And in a few minutes I have to leave the warmth of the hotel room to get to my car and hope it starts.
I am enjoying the solitude but it will start to get to me soon. See, here's the problem: I officially have NO FRIENDS in the state who share my profession. I am the lonely creepy guy. Brian is here but the band sessions are in a different part of the building. All my friends from college are either out of town, out of the business, or both. Karen my colleague at school...goes to KMEA in Kentucky. So it's just me. Which again, I like...for a while. But by Saturday I'll be very happy to get home with everyone.
In other news, I'm back on the eating right wagon - lost about 10 pounds so far, give or take. I want to try to get it down another 20 or so, and then see what I'm feeling like. We're seriously looking into purchasing a treadmill to give us that extra exercise boost...but that's quite an expensive purchase if you want a good one. We'll see.
Thanks to all the family who are helping Steph out while I'm gone. It's not easy.
More later - the other big news is that the summer trip is officially being put in place...reservations are being made, which means I can start talking about where all we're going. Look for that soon.
Into the cold...
Matt
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